Anna Benaki-Psarouda, a pioneering legal scholar and politician who shattered Greece's political glass ceiling as the first woman to serve as Parliament Speaker, has died, her family has announced. She was 91.
A distinguished professor of criminal law and a longtime lawmaker with the conservative New Democracy party, Mrs. Benaki-Psarouda presided over the chamber from 2004 to 2007, marking a historic milestone in the country’s male-dominated political landscape.
Her influence extended across all three branches of public life: legislative, executive, and judicial.
Before taking the Speaker's gavel, she held key cabinet portfolios, serving as Minister of Culture (1991–1992) and Minister of Justice (1992–1993) under the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis.
Born in Athens on Dec. 12, 1934, the daughter of a naval officer, she pursued legal studies in Greece and Germany, earning a doctorate in criminal law from the University of Bonn in 1961. She joined the Athens Law School faculty the following year, rising to full professor in 1986 and mentoring generations of jurists until 2001.
She entered politics in 1981, winning a seat in Parliament on the New Democracy state ticket. During her nearly three-decade tenure as an MP, she played a central role in constitutional reforms, notably collaborating with the socialist government on the 2001 revision.
Mrs. Benaki-Psarouda continued to break barriers well after leaving active politics. In 2010, she was elected to the prestigious Academy of Athens and became its first female president in 2020.
She was also the longtime editor-in-chief of the influential legal journal Poinika Chronika (Criminal Annals). Her husband, historian of philosophy Linos Benakis, died in 2022.